The production (i.e., assemble, integration, build, test, and quality assurance (QA)) of high technology products (e.g., satellite, ship, air-spacecraft, defense weapon, etc.) is a complex process, requiring timely, accurate, and comprehensive information from a very broad range of sources. The “management” of all necessary information is usually split between several discrete computer programs which cannot talk to each other, plus a variety of well known manual data logging & manual analysis methods.
Although there exists numerous ongoing problems associated with the production of high technology products, the industry remains fundamentally hamstrung by missed delivery dates, project delays, and commensurate costs overages. Anecdotally, we all hear about the satellite/ship/air-spacecraft/defense weapon program (Olympus satellite) that was expected to take “5” years, but during those “5” years, it slipped “5” years. After 5 years from commencement of program initiation, the party responsible for delivery of the satellite/ship/air-spacecraft/defense weapon were no closer to finishing than when they started!
There are yet additional problems, namely problems with configuration management and build standards whereby hardware is built with the wrong or defective components, and thusly does not function as intended. A classic example of the subject problem is the Hubble Space Telescope. After Hubble's deployment in 1990, scientist realized that the telescope's primary mirror had a flaw called spherical aberration. The outer edge of the mirror was ground too flat by a depth of 2.2 microns (i.e., roughly equal to one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair). This aberration resulted in images that were fuzzy because some of the light from the objects being studied was being scattered. The Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), a telephone booth-sized instrument which placed five pairs of corrective mirrors in front of the Faint Object Camera, the Faint Object Spectrograph and the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, was developed and deployed as an effective means of countering the effects of the flawed shape of the mirror. Sadly, the correct primary mirror was sitting in the assembly hall, but owing to a configuration omission, was not fitted to the satellite.
Problems with quality management and modifications, whereby hardware is built incorrectly or with defects, are not detected or detectable. As such, improved auditing remains an issue, such scenarios typically owing to a poor/inadequate audit trail.
There are still further problems, namely problems with overall/select information availability (i.e., information access), whereby information known to some parties is not disseminated in a way that the parties who need to know it obtain it. This can result in tests being performed with the wrong product set up, or the wrong unit condition. Such scenario, at a minimum resulting in resource mismanagement, has been known to result in product/component malfunction, damage to property, and personnel injury.
The subject “problems,” which are far from exhaustive, are arguably the result of just too many inputs to be properly and adequately processed by known computer implemented, or manual, systems and/or methods.
Fundamental to the subject problem/solution calculus, and thus the subject invention, is an appreciation of the high volume production versus low volume production distinction, the former being the subject of a variety of solutions, for example, those exemplified by, among others, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,089,970 (Lee et al.), 5,463,555 (Ward et al.), and 6,345,259 (Sandoval).
The main activities exemplified by a typical manufacturing operation are illustrated in FIG. 1, a simple process schematic of manufacturing business activities. In a high-volume manufacturing scenario, such as the manufacture of wiper motors for motor cars, the “make product” task 50, FIG. 1, off-center left, may be a five minute robotic task. The main cost saving available (i.e., margin) is in keeping manufacturing at maximum throughput, and balancing inventory with orders, so either Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and/or Customer Relations Management (CRM) are appropriate approaches (i.e., solutions), which benefit the business in a variety of tangible ways. Heretofore know configuration management systems/methodologies essentially establish the widget specification, specify the widget tooling, then mass produce the widgets by the hundreds, thousands, etc. Subsequently, a small modification is made, the tooling reconfigured, and mass production of the widget by the hundreds, thousands, etc. continues.
In a low-volume, high technology, manufacturing scenario, such as the manufacture of satellites, ships, air/spacecrafts, defense weapons, etc., “Make product” can be a six plus month manual task, requiring tens of thousands of labor hours, hours which are logged by highly skilled engineers and technicians. There is no automatic tooling involved. The “make product” box now represents 90%+of the manufacturing cost. The main cost saving (i.e., margin) is in helping engineers “make product” manually, not in MRP, design, tooling, etc.
Heretofore known systematic “make product” tools are all based around project planning/management technology. There is an essential project planning system at the core of the known manufacturing systems, including, but not limited to MRP, ERP, SCM, and CRM. As alluded to earlier, this approach is fine for high volume manufacturing, which is mainly concerned with an automated manufacturing process, wherein time and materials planning is especially critical. However, low-volume, high technology manufacturing is largely manual, and due to characteristic extreme complexity, so many other factors are implicated, invalidating the common approaches like ERP, etc., and removing the focus from the project plan, to an integrated manufacturing/build environment.
Furthermore, a drawback of the referenced approaches, i.e., those with project planning at their core, is that project planning is a monitoring technology, not a controlling technology. Hence, such systems tell you that “the toast just burned,” whereas a controlling technology of the subject invention puts the users in control to “prevent the toast from burning”. One key to having a controlling technology is that all the inputs to the build/assembly/test/QA process are linked, as are the “manual” manufacturing processes, so that the information can be fully integrated, in furtherance of being intelligently analyzed, providing a user with true knowledge about the current situation, not just a theoretical plan about what the situation should be like. A paradigm shift from “project management” to “manufacturing intelligence” is essential.
Thus, in light of the foregoing, there remains a need to provide a comprehensive management domain for all information for high technology product manufacture to be gathered, stored, intelligently analyzed, coordinated and cross-referenced, especially now as the technological sophistication of high technology products, and components thereof, have a further complicating potential in the manufacturing context. Furthermore, it remains advantageous to provide a system and method for high technology product manufacture wherein costs are reduced, both engineering quality and QA information improved, and product deliver time shortened. Further still, it is especially advantageous to: provide a deep-level, advanced configuration management system, integrated with all other areas of the manufacturing intelligence (e.g., engineering, test, QA, build, modifications, inventory, problems, resources, and non project management-based scheduling, etc.); incorporate a project management package into the manufacturing intelligence and advanced configuration management system such that there is a two-way flow of information between the project management system and the rest of the management domain, thereby reducing the size of a corresponding plan, while improving its accuracy; and, utilize the two-way flow of information to determine, not just the dates for work to be done, but the optimal path through the project plan (i.e., the state of information in the management domain will change the project plan to fit).
More specific features and advantages obtained in view of those features will become apparent with reference to the drawing figures and DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.